Difference between XBee PRO XSC and XBee PRO

Wireless & IoT
1

Hello,

I’m studing which module will be better for my application and I had this doubt…

Why the “XSC” makes the XBee PRO be $37 more expensive?

I have never worked with xBee before, so I cant see clearly the difference between these modules.

I’ve seen that there is a little increase in the range, but it isnt that significant…

Another little question: the 2.4Ghz and 900Mhz modules use the same kind of communication and are pin conpatible?

Here are the product details:

XBee PRO 900 XSC RPSMA

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc … ts_id=9087

XBee PRO 900 RPSMA

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc … ts_id=9099

2

The Pro is 50mW out whereas the XSC is 100mW out. Twice the power.

As far as I know all the XBee modules have the same pin out. Check the data sheets to be sure.

3

waltr:
The Pro is 50mW out whereas the XSC is 100mW out. Twice the power.

As far as I know all the XBee modules have the same pin out. Check the data sheets to be sure.

hum thx, so i can start using a non-XSC, which is almost half price and later just change for a XSC if i want more range, without software/hardware changes?

4

flaviohpo:

waltr:
The Pro is 50mW out whereas the XSC is 100mW out. Twice the power.

As far as I know all the XBee modules have the same pin out. Check the data sheets to be sure.

hum thx, so i can start using a non-XSC, which is almost half price and later just change for a XSC if i want more range, without software/hardware changes?

Don’t forget that twice the transmitter power can be had with antenna gain, e.g., a gain omni or directional. Up to 12dBi of gain in omnis for 2.4GHz. Subject to local regulatory limits on EIRP.

And of course, antenna gain is bi-directional.

The XSC (902-928 MHz/ISM) of course cost more since the 2.4GHz XBees are in much higher volume production.

Aren’t the “XBee PRO” all 2.4GHz?

5

Aren’t the “XBee PRO” all 2.4GHz?

Not according to the Digi's data sheet found on SFE's product page.
6

stevech:
Aren’t the “XBee PRO” all 2.4GHz?

actually there is one XBee PRO 2.4Ghz with range of 1600m(not sure)

and other 2 models with 900Mhz, one with 24.000m(XSC) and other with 10.000m

7

flaviohpo:

stevech:
Aren’t the “XBee PRO” all 2.4GHz?

actually there is one XBee PRO 2.4Ghz with range of 1600m(not sure)

and other 2 models with 900Mhz, one with 24.000m(XSC) and other with 10.000m

Study up on RF propagation a bit, and google RF Link Budgets. You’ll see that range is governed mostly by physics, irrespective of the product. Transmitter power + antenna gain - line of sight propagation loss - additional losses (foliage, terrain) + receiver antenna gain = RSL or received signal level. Propagation loss in line of sight is accurately predictable for some frequency. It increases about 6dB (log scale) each time frequency doubles. Happily, as frequency increases, antenna gain gets easier to implement. The receiver’s required RSL is first governed by physics such as channel bandwidth and less so by hardware goodness.

There’s a bit more to this, like Fresnel zone. But in most cases, you can fairly accurately compute/predict how well a given hardware suite on some frequency will work. Where it gets to be a black art is in highly non-line-of-sight conditions outdoors. Indoors, attenuation of drywall, stucco, etc. are well known.

8

One big difference is the baud rates.

Note that the XSC only support a maximum of 9600bps over the air datarate.

So you can feed them data to 115,200 but it won’t work too well if it’s a constant stream and you overflow the buffers.

9

flaviohpo:
hum thx, so i can start using a non-XSC, which is almost half price and later just change for a XSC if i want more range, without software/hardware changes?

I don´t know about differences between the specific modules you´re looking at, but I wouldn´t assume that you can get away without software changes just because the pinouts are the same. I do know that some of the modules that share pinouts nontheless differ in their ¨AT ¨command sets, specifically with respect to addressing. If your software adjusts the XBee addresses, you´ll need to make sure that you´re taking that into account. Definitely look over the command sets for the modules you´re hoping to use interchangeably.